HISTORIES

(Some of these Histories may not yet be substantiated, or may be speculative....yet also may be true.

In fairness to that possibility they are included)

"Breathes there a man with soul so dead, Who never to himself hath said, This is my own, my native land?"

Sir Walter Scott

Sir Walter had it part right...In many ways it is a sad tale - a people leaving their land to emigrate to other lands to develop them. But there must be admiration for so many heroic Celtic men and women who have given the world so much. The Celts always loved their land, but truly they loved their Culture, their way of life, their love of Freedom. They adopted and were adopted by the Lands they lived in and were intensely loyal to the Celtic Way. For this reason they were of great influence no matter where they roamed, from the mountains of Bavaria, through the Mediterranean basin, Atlantic Europe, to the islands and highlands of Ireland, Wales and Scotland, and finally to:

"The Scottish participation in the settlement of America dates from the early seventeenth century, and from that time until the American Revolution probably around 150,000 Scots emigrated to the New World. During the seventeenth century many Scots settled within the English, Dutch and French colonies, while others attempted to establish independent Scots colonies in Nova Scotia, New Jersey, South Carolina and at Darien (Note: Darien is the Scots' name for Panama.--GB). After the political union of Scotland and England in 1707 the Scots had unrestricted access to the English plantations in America. Emigration expanded slowly but steadily until 1763 when a combination of factors in Scotland and America stimulated emigration, especially from the Highlands. Although Scots could be found throughout the American colonies from Barbados to Rupert's Land, areas such as Georgia, the Carolinas, upper New York, Nova Scotia and Jamaica had the greatest concentration of Scottish immigrants. This then was the general pattern of Scottish immigration and settlement in colonial America."

Celtic America from

People of Celtic descent (Scots, Irish and Welsh) played a huge part in shaping the United States of America. Some say that Celtic American influence has wielded too much power. However this was not always so – there was a time when the Scottish Americans and fellow Celts were considered by the English elite as outcasts, with the native Indians and African slaves.

A series on Scottish Television in 2003 explored the history of Celts in America. The story begins in the first half of the 18th century when thousands fled the Hanoverian regime , and when Scottish, Irish and Welsh prisoners of war were sent across the Atlantic to an American destiny.

Some interesting facts* From STV

Many Highland Scots – with names like Ross and Macdonald – became part and parcel of the Indian nations of the southeast. For generations the principal chiefs of the Creek were called either MacIntosh or McGillivray. However, it is a sad irony that the Native Americans also had no more bitter enemies than the Scots-Irish and lowland Scots.

Highland Jacobites were some of King George’s most loyal Americans. Even Flora Macdonald, saviour of "Bonnie Prince Charlie" turned loyalist when she immigrated to the Carolinas.

The great names of the western frontier – Davie Crockett, Jim Bowie, Daniel Boone, Jeremiah Johnston – were of Scots-Irish stock.

The Scots-Irish, the Lowland Scots and the Welsh were the backbone of George Washington’s army. The Scots almost exclusively fought one of the key battles in the War of Independence – on both sides. (King's Mountain -ed)

Many of the signatories to the Declaration of Independence of 1776 were Welsh, Scots and Irish-Scots.

Those of Celtic descent played a significant role in expanding the boundaries of the USA. The Welsh largely built up America’s iron and steel industry.

The mass emigration of the (mainly) Catholic Irish during the potato famine in the early 19th century became one of the defining moments of American history.

Modern historians calculate that when the civil war broke out about 75% of the South’s population was Celtic. The Confederate flag was a transatlantic version of the saltires of St. Andrew and St. Patrick, celebrated as ‘the bonnie blue flag’.

The end of the civil war saw the manifestation of the most unpleasant Celtic institution, the Ku Klux Klan, and of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the forerunner to the IRA.

The economic plight of post-war USA presented big opportunities for Scots businessmen – investment trusts were set up which ploughed a huge amount of Scots money into railways, cattle ranches, mines, forestry and land.

As well as providing fine politicians, inventors and businessmen, the darker side of the Celtic Americans was never far away. There was a revival in the Ku Klux Klan in 1915 and the Welsh, for some reason, proved adept urban gangsters.

In the 50 years between 1880 and 1930 around 760,000 Scots, Irish and Welsh immigrated to the USA. Those of Celtic descent continue to make a massive contribution to the USA, and more and more they like to express something of their culture – with Highland Games and St. Patrick’s Day parades popular across the country.

Today, there are more people of Celtic descent in North America than in all the European based Celtic countries put together!

* Scottish Television (STV) series began on 12th June and ended on 17th July 2003

The NWC is an all-inclusive 501 (c) (3) charitable benevolent society. The New World Celts is not to be confused with, nor to be associated with and never will be associated with any racist organization. We are very proud of our members of Celtic heritage and equally proud of our members of Native American, African and Asian heritage. We disavow wholeheartedly any connection with or attempts by any racist organization to link themselves to us via the internet or by using our name or symbols to further their own cause. We are very proud to be Americans, Australians, Canadians, and New Zealanders and as such, aspire to the golden ideals of ancient Celts: that all are equals.